CHARLESTON, SC (WMBF) – The man set to be executed for a Horry County murder Friday is filing a federal lawsuit over the state’s execution practices.
Stephen Stanko filed the federal civil rights lawsuit on June 6 against the South Carolina Department of Corrections and the agency’s officials.
The lawsuit attacks South Carolina’s execution statute, which has been in place for five executions since September 2024, when the state began resuming executions after an over 10-year gap.
The statute places the electric chair, a method Stanko argues is archaic, as the designated method unless the inmate chooses lethal injection or firing squad…